"The burden of sodium is much higher than the burden of sugar-sweetened beverages," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and author of both the salt and sugary drink studies. "That’s because sugar-sweetened beverages are just one type of food that people can avoid, whereas sodium is in everything."

The study, presented Thursday at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in New Orleans, adds to mounting evidence that packaged and processed foods containing high levels of salt for flavor and shelf life can take a heavy toll on cardiovascular health.

"It’s really amazing how pervasive it is," Mozaffarian said of salt. "For the average person, it’s very hard to avoid salt – you have to be incredibly motivated, incredibly educated, have access to a range of foods and do all the cooking yourself."